As follow up to the World Education Forum (WEF), Incheon, Republic of Korea in May 2015, and within the framework of the CAP EFA for Planning initiative in the GCC and Yemen, UNESCO Doha and RCEP are organizing a sub-regional Seminar on "Strengthening capacity to develop a Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Education 2030 in the GCC and Yemen" from 1-3 September 2015 in Sharjah, UAE.

The participating countries will be invited to review the new Framework for Action presented at World Education Forum 2015 to ascertain relevance and application of the global education goal and its associated seven targets and three means of implementation within the context of this sub-region.

The meeting will enable consultation on the proposed thematic indicators for education to receive national feedback from the GCC and Yemen and initiate preparations at national level to define and contextualize the indicators, including measures for adapting existing or setting up of new monitoring mechanisms at country level. The seminar will also be an opportunity to share best practices and lessons learnt.

Important questions to be discussed include:

- To what extent are the global targets and thematic indicators for education relevant to the GCC States and Yemen?

- How can the education targets be fine-tuned to reflect the particular context of the countries in this region?

- Once these targets are established, what indicators would be used to monitor progress in the achievement of these targets in the GCC States?

- How to ensure country level targets are easily understood by all stakeholders, are clearly defined, and can be effectively tracked through appropriate indicators over time to assess progress in the implementation of the national education objectives?

Countries will review the proposed targets and thematic indicators for Education as the starting point and align with national monitoring systems, which can be expanded and further strengthened to respond to the emerging needs to systematically track national Education 2030 agenda.

The capacity development initiative for the GCC and Yemen aims to:

(1)Strengthen national capacities in developing relevant methodology and systems to transform global educational targets and indicators to national level Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks for the GCC and Yemen with a focus on educational quality;

(2) Apply the proposed methodology (Monitoring & Evaluation Framework) in selected country contexts for timely monitoring and evaluation of education targets;

(3) Learn lessons to contribute towards the methodology and overall application and capacity development of other Arab States in the region.

The Seminar will be attended by the GCC education officials specifically high level ministerial representatives: under-secretaries of education, national coordinators for Post-2015 education agenda, or senior education planners and Monitoring and Evaluation Specialists or statisticians with experience in education indicators from the respective ministries of education.

Background documents:

- The Incheon Declaration Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all ENG / ARB

- Framework for Action Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all ENG / ARB

- Sharm-el-Shaikh Statement ENG / ARB

- Regional Education for All Synthesis Report for the Arab States ENG

- Technical Advisory Group Proposal: Thematic Indicators to Monitor the Post-2015 Education Agenda ENG / ARB